Patient's question:
My son is eighteen years old this year. When he was in his early to mid-teens, he often had headaches. He has also been to municipal hospitals for brain MRI, which suggested it might be sinusitis. He has taken many sinusitis medications, had a nasal puncture, and taken traditional Chinese medicine. Sometimes, a nap would make it better. When he had headaches, he wouldn't eat, and even if he did, he would vomit it up. Later, his cold turned into a fast heartbeat, and he was hospitalized for intravenous fluids. He was given the same type of fluids as for myocarditis. In the spring of 2017, he was hospitalized five times, each time diagnosed as myocarditis and given intravenous fluids with nutrients for the heart. On August 3, 2018, his cold caused a fast heartbeat, and he was hospitalized for three days of intravenous fluids. The doctor thought this time it wasn't myocarditis and checked his thyroid function panel, which showed hyperthyroidism. He then went to Hebei Provincial Second Hospital, where he was told it was also hyperthyroidism. He took many vitamin A and D drops (capsule form), along with multivitamin iron oral solution, and one whole night of heart rate medication for a month. When he returned to Shijiazhuang for a recheck, he was told he had hypothyroidism again. On January 24, 2019, his thyroid function panel recheck results were normal. Since being diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, he has taken many medications, and his headaches have also become milder.Doctor's answer:
According to your description, the child was carefully examined for sinusitis due to a headache and was misdiagnosed with myocarditis. It was later confirmed to be hyperthyroidism, and after treatment, the headache improved. My advice is that if the child's headache improves, you can continue to monitor it for a while. Hyperthyroidism is a chronic condition that requires long-term treatment. Pay attention to follow-up T3 and T4 tests, and be mindful of preventing colds in daily life, as sinusitis tends to recur with a cold.